flood threat remains on northern coast, Tweed River evacuation orders for residents stands

The State Emergency Service urged people in affected areas to keep clear of creeks and stormwater drains, to avoid driving through floods and to stay vigilant and monitor conditions.

Motorists in Sydney have been urged to take extreme care on the road, with reduced visibility in fog making road conditions dangerous.

Northern NSW on high alert

In northern NSW, floods have closed Dawson Street between Leycester and Magellan streets in Lismore, Tweed Valley Way between Riverside Drive and Cudgen Road near Tumbulgum and Waterfall Way between Maynards Plains and Boggy Creek roads near Bellingen in both directions.

A broad low pressure trough is hanging over NSW, dragging a moist and unsettled air mass into the state and generating showers and thunderstorms.

Communities along the northern NSW coastline remain on high alert for flash flooding as rain continues to fall on saturated ground and with evacuation orders in place for about 1000 residents despite easing conditions.

A severe weather warning for heavy rain is in place for communties on the NSW South Coast and parts of the Northern Rivers and Snowy Mountains.

“Rain on the South Coast and Northern Rivers has become more widespread, being generally heavy, and expected to persist of a another several hours,” the bureau said.

On Wednesday morning, NSW SES spokeswoman Stephanie Heard said the service had received 1700 calls for help since the weather event started, including 95 on Tuesday night.

Most calls had been for leaking and damaged roofs due to the heavy rain, along with some uprooted trees and “a lot of requests for sandbags”.

There had also been 24 flood rescues in total, she said.

Evacuation orders issued for about 1000 residents along the Tweed River around Tumbulgum and Condong on Tuesday remained in place, Ms Heard said, and rapid assessment teams are set to assess the damage on Wednesday amid receding floodwaters.

With Wednesday’s focus on the Mid North Coast, the weather bureau has issued moderate to major flood warnings for the Bellinger and Kalang rivers and moderate warnings for the Orara and Nambucca rivers.

Another three evacuation warnings are in place, including one that might affect 16 properties in Macksville on the Nambucca River, issued late on Tuesday night.

“We’re watching what happens with the high tide and seeing if any low lying areas are inundated,” Ms Heard said. “We’re seeing really saturated catchments … still getting some more rain.”

Justin Robinson, national flood services manager for NSW at the Bureau of Meteorology, said the flood situation was “evolving”.

“Even though the rainfall is starting to ease, it doesn’t mean the flood situation is easing,” he said. “We still have that floodwater coming down through those river systems.”